Poppy Seeds
by BlueLuci
Summary: Cam Pendleton was a simple young woman, with simple goals in life.  There were certain things she could handle quite well.  This was note one of them.  Reviews much appreciated! T for now.


Zombies. It seemed like there were hundreds of them, all in a massive writhing mob around four men. Their eyes held an unearthly yellow glow, and their hungry shrieks echoed off of the high ceiling in the Nazi theater. Suddenly, one of the men cursed and fumbled to reload his gun, but before he could snap the new clip into place, several undead were upon him; clubbing and clawing at him, gnashing their rotting mouths until he saw red…

"Fucker!" Cam Pendleton, an ornery young woman, shut her Xbox 360 off in a fit of frustration, rendering her apartment dark. She let out a short breath through her nose and turned to look through the window. It was raining. Typical weather for this area of Maryland, but surprisingly not unwelcome by Cam. It seemed to be the only real peace she could get these days; she pondered the sensational muffling effect the rainfall had on the outside world with her forehead pressed to the cool windowpane.

Camael never had much luck in, really, most departments. First of all, her weird hippie parents named her after an angel from some obscure religious text. They would always remind her growing up that it meant "love of God", shortly followed by an embarrassed grumble from the child.

Directly after she graduated from high school in small-town Maryland, Cam decided that with no real passion for her future to skip college and become a flight attendant for international airlines. This job allowed her to get paid to travel (a life-long hobby) and to become adequate in several languages (even fluent in some). But, alas, this young, wayward traveler grew weary after many months of attending fifteen-hour flights, complete with recycled air and screaming infants.

So, after she quit her job with the airlines, Cam turned to another interest of hers as a method of breadwinning: music. Ever since Cam's parents had taken her to a local concert in the second grade, she has had an insatiable appetite for the stuff. She practically begged her parents to pay for violin lessons, and they were more than happy to oblige and let her express herself. The young girl grew an unusual interest in classical music and composers, and would always defend the genre as "timeless".

What was merely a pleasant way to waste time before became Cam's career: she played violin with a local orchestra. Anyone who's observed Cam play the violin would juxtapose it as being the opposite of the way she ran the rest of her life. She would get lost in the sheet music, memorize every drop of ink and study it mercilessly into the night. The musician performed with great passion, vigor, and with upmost focus, meticulously playing every note correctly. After a concert, Cam was known to go out to the bar and get smashed.

Relationships almost never worked out for Cam, partly from her abrasive exterior and partly because she simply was never interested. From the top of her head, Cam could name two people who were very close friends, and no one who she was seriously intimate with. She had often thought about her future involving another person, but planning ahead was, in Cam's opinion, "really stupid and unnecessary".

So, that leaves us here, in a dark, cluttered apartment with a brooding young lady. Though cynical on the outside, Camael Pendleton simply wished to relish the present, and the little islands of serenity amidst the swirling, calamitous rapids that is life. With all the sophistication in her job, Cam still delighted in shallower activities such as drinking and playing violent videogames. She kept to herself mostly, and really only cared for herself, her two best friends, and her mother, who was then living alone. As she would tell a man later, "I have enough problems of my own. The rest of the world can take care of itself."

With a small sigh, Cam stood up and shrugged on her favorite worn raincoat and a pair of shoes. She gently slipped her newest sheet music into a folder, then that into her bag, along with a notebook, several pens, her wallet, and her beloved iPod. Her mother had bought it for her, claiming that Cam's old ratty mp3 simply didn't suit her, despite all protests. She had probably known Cam couldn't afford it on her own. Bless that woman.

Cam trudged outside the old apartment complex and into the rainy street, turning to walk towards the nearest Dunn Bros coffee house. Predictably, there was no one else out. As she listened to the soft patter of rain on the pavement, Cam allowed her mind to wander. Her flighty thoughts eventually settled on the topic of the game she had been enjoying not half an hour ago. Cam liked Black Ops's 'Zombies' not only for its bloody zombie-killing action, but also for its surprisingly well though-out plotline.

Cam thought about Element 115, about the Nazi's secret project in the '40s, about the brilliant Dr. Maxis…and Dr. Richtofen. She sighed in thought. Dr. Richtofen was her favorite to think about-not only because he said the funniest things when being played, but because he was, in her opinion, the most interesting character in the franchise. Cam pondered what his childhood must have been like. Pretty awful, she decided, to have incubated such madness in the doctor.

She thought about Samantha Maxis, too, and imagined the little girl having gentle conversation with Edward Richtofen. Camael firmly believed that Sam was purely a victim of circumstance; she was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. See, Edward only wanted rid of Dr. Maxis, but Samantha ran in to save Fluffy, and to the mad doctor, that was unfortunate. Unfortunate, yet it changed nothing.

However, Cam supposed that the rage the not-quite-dead girl felt was completely justified. Judging by the hidden songs in each map, it was apparent that wherever she was, Sam was less than comfortable. Even as a powerful supernatural being, Samantha Maxis was still a little girl with an absent dad and a troubled past. She seemed scared, confused, lost, in pain, and full of anger. That is never a good combination for unstable beings on a higher plane.

Cam's thoughts were cut off by a sudden flash of lightning, followed closely by a roll of thunder that shook her bones. She frowned slightly as the soft rain turned into heavy, colder rainfall. There was no point in turning back, she decided, pulling her bag closer to protect it from the persistent rain. She was already over half way there, and besides, what harm could a bit of water do?

In a matter of minutes, the calm rain was completely replaced with a full-blown storm; thick rain pelted the road, feral winds whipped around trees and thunder rocked the earth. Poor Cam was just lamenting her decision to have some coffee that evening as the storm pushed her, helpless, about the empty street.

It was then Cam began to notice that all around her, there was what looked and felt like a sort of static charge, and as she observed it became more and more noticeable. It was snapping electric, shocking blue in color and quickly growing in intensity. _'How strange…'_ Cam thought, fighting the growing uneasiness in her throat. Sure, she was plenty confused at the phenomenon but not entirely sure if it was something to be afraid of. Cam eventually decided that any type of electricity in the middle of a storm is a bad sign.

Before she could act, a mechanical whirring noise filled the air as what now looked like blue lightning flashed all around her. Cam was at a loss. Something, something very strange, was happening and she was right in the middle of it. The young woman doubled over, suddenly feeling quite nauseous and disoriented. Everything was just too overwhelming, the wind's howling doubled in volume and there were now popping and cracking sounds that sent rocks to the pit of her stomach.

Cam was kneeling on the ground now, trying in vain to regain control of her senses. _'This is just brilliant. Wonderful, even. This is surely the delightful surprise women wish for on their way to the coffee shop.'_ the default mindset "cynical" took over her thought process.

As her consciousness started to fade at the edges, Camael realized something about the situation. This-whatever this was-had not chosen her in any way. It was not fate, not destiny, but pure chance that this young lady happened to take a stroll right when and where a freak storm would happen. That event would happen, then and there, regardless of whoever might happen upon it. _'A victim of circumstance' _Cam reflected briefly on the irony before remembering she was in pain.

So there she was, curled up on the pavement with (what must be) the wrath of _something _upon her. Cam might have groaned with frustration if her skull didn't feel like a fucking belfry at high noon. Just as her consciousness took a swan dive into the deep waters of oblivion, the noise of wind and electricity subsided to a more specific sound…the noise a machine makes when it's functioning.

Oh, there was that, and also a demonic little giggle.

AN: Yes. I live, and I play Zombies too. And yes, I'm using this already exhausted cliché as a plot. I just want to see it done right, okay?

This will be continued, so prepare your bodies.

If I owned any part of 'Black Ops', I wouldn't be writing fanfiction about it.


End file.
